Powerhouse: Duane Vermeulen
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South Africa saw off England with a 16-15 win on a grim Saturday at Twickenham, with a late rally from the hosts seeing them fall short.
Three penalties from Pat Lambie and a bizarre try from Willem Alberts handed the visitors the win, with Toby Flood and Owen Farrell accumulating five penalties between them.
England dominated territory and possession but were naive in attack, lacking direction and depth which made matters simple for the Springboks defence. Too often forwards were found in midfield when England needed a clinical line-breaker. The fact that Tom Youngs was the most effective Red Rose attacker said it all.
An interception break from Manu Tuilagi in the second half summed up their troubles perfectly; Chris Ashton choosing to not back his pace and ultimately seeing England plod forward into another turnover.
South Africa on the other hand were more patient, clinical and superior without anywhere near the same amount of possession - executing to greater effect when inside opposition territory in a replica performance from their victory over Ireland weeks earlier.
Controlling the line-out, they were spearheaded by the excellent Eben Etzebeth and made better use of their kicks to pin England back. Their scrum was also in the ascendancy as time ticked away, gaining the upper hand and reversing England's dominance from the first half.
Mike Brown's clean break in the opening minutes gave England valuable territory, with Toby Flood eventually converting a penalty after South Africa went offside near the posts.
Lambie tied the scores with his first kick of the afternoon but England regained the lead with a penalty from the game's first scrum, Flood returning to the field after being checked for concussion to grab the points.
A knock-on from Zane Kirchner inside his own 22 handed England an opportunity at the scrum - the returning Alex Corbisiero getting the edge over Jannie du Plessis - only for Flood to miss the simple kick wide to the right.
Persistent South African pressure in England's red zone then yielded a penalty for Lambie to give the visitors the lead for the first time at 6-9.
A fine offload from Joe Launchbury released Flood before Alex Goode burst upfield to bring Twickenham onto it's feet. But the chance was wasted after a grubber kick from Flood dribbled beyond the dead ball line. Key defence at the breakdown then helped both teams clear their lines before half-time.
The Springboks started the second half with a bang and after setting up camp in the England 22 scored a bizarre try. Ben Youngs' box kick ricocheted forward off JP Pietersen, with Tom Wood fumbling the ball which dropped into the hands of Alberts who burrowed over for the opening try.
Farrell replaced a wayward Flood and drew England within seven points with a penalty after 60 minutes and then added another as the match went into the closing stages, giving England a chance as they moved within four points.
Faced with a tough decision inside Springbok territory with two minutes left, Farrell brought England within a single point with another penalty kick rather than opting for the corner. Unable to win the restart, South Africa closed out the match and remain unbeaten in November.
Man of the match: One big performance from Eben Etzebeth, dominant in the skies and a joint top tackler with 16.
Moment of the match: England may well regret their decision for points over the corner as the clock ran out.
Villain of the match: Aimless kicking. It entertains nobody and transforms games from spectacles to duds.
The scorers:
For England:
Pen: Flood 2, Farrell 3
For South Africa:
Try: Alberts
Con: Lambie
Pen: Lambie 3
England: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Tom Wood, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Alex Corbisiero.
Replacements: 16 David Paice, 17 David Wilson, 18 Mako Vunipola, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 James Haskell, 21 Danny Care, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Jonathan Joseph.
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Juandré Kruger, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Jaco Taute, 23 Lwazi Mvovo.
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees: Glen Jackson (New Zealand), Peter Fitzgibbon (Ireland)
Television match official: Jim Yuille (Scotland)
By Ben Coles at Twickenham
@bencoles_
Comments
Spartacus says...
What do we know after this Boks tour?
1) The Boks are improving
2) Meyer has got Boks into 2nd place in rankings despite some great players retiring/going Japanese and a horrendous injury list.
3) Etzebeth is the real deal, and the 5 on 1 incident is a sign of how much England were concerned about him
4) Boks have had an outstanding back row on tour, despite all the injuries in this area.
5) Boks have good discipline - did not lose the plot in Etzebeth incident.
6) Nigel Owens had a moronic performance today. He did not understand rucks, mauls, scrums, offside and completely ruined the game.
7) Kirchner is maybe not as bad as I thought. Jury is still out, but he has got stuck in over the last 2 weeks.
8) Meyer has moved past Bulls fixation
9) Slightly disapointing that some Boks fans cant find anything positive about a young team finishing the year with a 100% tour and 2nd place in the rankings.
Go Bokke!
Posted 21:25 24th November 2012
TVaddict says...
@malaprade
lol, your desperate battling on here for respect is rather sad, but at least you did get some facts right. Well done for that. Me naming you Neanderthal is a bit outdated though I try to match the description to the level of intelligence of the person. Perhaps you do read sometimes. Well I guess all I can just ask you to do is look at the match and the refereeing with some neutrality.
As for your life history that's very interesting, congrats on the degree and all that. Although I don't think having a degree effects how effective you are at seeing the obvious, and I am loathed to give personal information away online, you'll be happy to know I have a Masters degree from a top ranked English university. Not that that is at all relevant here. Plus I too am of a very mixed background with roots from across Europe, I guess under current irb rules there would be three countries for me to choose from. Well while it was lovely meeting you and exchanging life stories, want to stick to rugby for the rest of the comments?
Posted 21:07 24th November 2012
Trader2 says...
Jeez that was so exciting I fell asleep and missed the Haka in Cardiff. I see the Bokke fans are blaming the ref for their ordinary display, now there is a surprise, the Poms of course cannot believe how unlucky they were,as melkdave said "overall England have shown they are a top team" when I read that I almost choked on my cornflakes!!
Posted 20:43 24th November 2012
Voice says...
Glad we came away with a win albeit quite a fortunate one. I believe that HM is a 1 trick pony! Glad to see that our loose forwards are coming into their own and starting to compliment one another - happy for Duane (Captain) Vermeulen! Lambie at 10??? still don`t know but this bok side does not get me too excited. Depth is almost non-existent, back-up to Alberts questionable, Pienaar I am unsure about.
Big up to the english pack today especially their 8th man, thought he was very good they were very unlucky. Watched the AB game afterwards, they are leaps and bounds ahead of the rest.
Posted 20:27 24th November 2012
Zambokke says...
I felt sorry for Jannie who was cheated, it is not Corbisiero's fault for realising that he could get away with turning in - Owen's doesn't understand the scrum. Anyway, enough whinging - we won and leave the British Isles undefeated, even if we played one dimensional rugby in all three games and we were several top players short: Brussow, Schalk, Habana, F,Steyn, Beast, Bismark, Juan, Bekker, Spies, Goosen etc - all world class when on form. The good thing is that we have learned and bonded. We have also grown good players such as Eben and had a second look at players such as Flouw. Well done boys, get home to the sun, braais, vleis, biltong etc you've deserved it - if you didn't play exciting rugby, you tackled your heart out in the cold and rain. Go Bokke.
Posted 20:25 24th November 2012
malaprade says...
TVboy. Touchy as well. I suppose I made an impact. Think of it this way my friend. I have an MSc from UCL which is one of the top uni's in the world, and I was the top student in my class. I am a South African of Dutch, French dissent who probably has Neanderthal genes, as you should know if you read scientific journals. I do think having Neanderthal genes gives me the edge though. A tougher structure to my body and at the same time a bigger brain. I may not run as fast but I can take those big hits without breaking bones too often. I would take that pedigree any day above being an inbred.
Posted 20:25 24th November 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
@Melk. Uhh mate we lost. All for a bit of banter before the game but no point after. Take it on the chin. We lost. Well done Boks. Wins a win. As for me I will forget this game fast. Unfortunately it's a loss on the records. But not much of an indicator as to whether England are on the down or up. We will see next week.
Posted 20:17 24th November 2012
malaprade says...
The way you are addressing jaystar you must be presuming you have a higher IQ than him. I love it when you brits do that. It makes the victories even sweeter. You always think it is pure brawn that gives the boks the edge, but fail to see it was the cleverer side who won today. There is nothing as pathetic as a red faced brit who has been caught out. Getting back to jaystars comment. If you take a carefull look at the game AGAIN, you will come to realise that he is correct. The first grab to the face was by the english player. I suppose the FINAL POINT is YOUR TEAM LOST AGAIN, so GET OVER IT, and SMARTEN UP before you take on a smarter team.
Posted 20:17 24th November 2012
TVaddict says...
@malaprade
On the contrary I complemented JaStarr for his rather witty sarcasm, I'm afraid however I can't do the same for you. With insults like 'TV--dic' I don't even need to presume my IQ is greater than yours. Luckily I know quite a few South Africans, all of which are intelligent and well rounded people, so having Neanderthals like you commenting doesn't distort my opinions of South Africans in general. I'm glad you enjoyed the result, and I'm happy to hear of your affair with JaStarr, though if you could pick up a book sometime and culture yourself it would be much appreciated.
Posted 19:40 24th November 2012
melkdave says...
WOW al the bokke fans moaning about the ref.YOUR SCRUM WAS BEATEN OFF THE FIELD DEAL WITH IT .
Posted 19:33 24th November 2012
mfblions says...
bizarre try, bizarre referring, bizarre decision making from both teams, bizarre tactics from Heyeneke Meyer the boks might have won but i don't think its a step in the right the direction! they are struggling to finish off games, their just don't know what their doing when it comes to attack! Or tho credit to their defence it was very solid but it think England made it easier for the boks to defend tho... anyway super rugby next will see what happens next year!
Posted 19:29 24th November 2012
malaprade says...
TV--dic- :)
The way you are addressing jaystar you must be presuming you have a higher IQ than him. I love it when you brits do that. It makes the victories even sweeter. You always think it is pure brawn that gives the boks the edge, but fail to see it was the cleverer side who won today. There is nothing as pathetic as a red faced brit who has been caught out.
Getting back to jaystars comment. If you take a carefull look at the game AGAIN, you will come to realise that he is correct. The first grab to the face was by the english player.
I suppose the FINAL POINT is YOUR TEAM LOST AGAIN, so GET OVER IT, and SMARTEN UP before you take on a smarter team.
Posted 19:16 24th November 2012
OzinLondon says...
melkdave
Shoulda woulda coulda.
I'd have a lot more sympathy for you if you gave credit to SA or Australia for their wins against England and spent more time critiquing England rather than bagging the team that beat them last week because they "only" had a close win against Italy.
Posted 18:46 24th November 2012
ADShark says...
Well done Boks! Once again the green wall stands firm. Time to spread our wings next year though. Unlucky England, missed too many chances. Looking forward to a better 2013.
Posted 18:45 24th November 2012
lacroix says...
unlucky england yes, but they cant expect to win with flood and youngs at the helm- so many dreadful decisions, so much poor kicking.
ashton too , as tvaddict says is over rated.
Posted 18:38 24th November 2012
philipjfry says...
Kak game. Enough said.
Posted 18:31 24th November 2012
jmanngod says...
grim teams, grim style, grim ref... witness the excellence of Craig Joubert and the game he is allowing to flow up til half time in Cardiff.
Posted 18:16 24th November 2012
BillyMutt2 says...
Oh dear, here go the Saffas again - even when their team manage to scrape out a win they have to whine about the ref. Just grow a pair already.
Posted 18:09 24th November 2012
TVaddict says...
@JayStarr
lol, I agree about the interviewer, someone should have hit him! Plus your satirical remark about the bias ref is brilliant. You're clearly cunningly playing the farsical springbok fan, full of conspiracy theories and bias nonsense, to rather cleverly let your fellow fans how silly they're being. Good on you, nice to see a clever springbok fan.
I mean, I almost though you were a stereotypical springbok fan, but when you starting talking about Eben Etzebeth as the victim I knew that not even a springbok fan could be that stupid. Like pig stupid. Like cow stupid. No, not possible, so it must be satire. After all Etzebeth had his hands all over Youngs face, he yet again made contact with the eye area. Does he ever learn? That's a citing waiting to happen. Hopefully nothing too much, maybe a week just because of the repeated offence. Needs to learn.
Posted 18:00 24th November 2012
TVaddict says...
I find it hilarious there are SA fans even thinking that the refereeing decisions went predominantly against SA. Did you watch the game? Yes there were a lot of bad decisions but they were pretty evenly distributed between the two teams. Lots of casual punches from the South Africa forwards conveniently not seen, lots of springboks rolling on the ball like it was a bloody scratching post, and were they ever on their feet? But, that said England got some lucky decisions, especially in the scrum as once we got the momentum with it the ref seemed to just side with us whatever happened. So please don't live up to the SA stereotype of bleating conspiracy theorists, your better than that. You won, fair and square.
Posted 17:38 24th November 2012